Late Night Fox Sighting in London

A few days ago, whilst walking over to the night bus after a late night gathering with some friends in Shoreditch, I came upon this fantastic fox, which seemed to be absolutely tame, with no form of inhibition in seeing me.

What was particularly interesting was that I sighted this fox right above the Liverpool Street station in London, on the astroturf: an urban fox at ease in a space that represents mobility. The fox even came close enough to me that I could take this photo.

London is no stranger to foxes, and nor I to them. Spending the summer in London, I’ve found that I see foxes on an almost daily basis, and am pretty sure they live in the abandoned lot behind the house in which I’m renting a room, in Stockwell.

According to a BBC report by Denise Winterman from October 2013, over 55,000 foxes live in the city, and “Foxes first colonised UK towns and cities in the 1940s and an estimated 33,000 now live in them, according to research by Bristol University. There are thought to be 16 per square mile in London alone.”

These fun facts about an urban creature which has hitherto only acted harmlessly around me, even though I’ve read reports about how they attack penguins and children, were particularly interesting for me, especially because they stand out in a city which is one of the epicenters for globalization, technology, and power. Moreover, I can’t even imagine foxes surviving in New York or any of the other places I have lived, so they really are a treat to the senses, a reminder of a time past, when humans and foxes probably coexisted in more harmony than they do these days.